Gender

Russia endorses bill to ban adoptions by gender-transition nations

Russia's upper house of parliament on Wednesday endorsed a bill banning adoption of Russian children by citizens of countries where gender transitioning is legal. The Federation Council also approved bills that outlaw the spread of material that encourages people not to have children. The bills, which have previously been approved by the lower house, will now go to President Vladimir Putin for signing into law. They follow a series of laws that have suppressed sexual minorities and bolstered longstanding conventional values. The lower house speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, who was among the new bill's authors, has noted that "it is extremely important to eliminate possible dangers in the form of gender reassignment that adopted children may face in these countries." The adoption ban would apply to at least 15 countries, most of them in Europe but including Australia, Argentina and Canada. Adoption of Russian children by US citizens was banned in 2012. Other bills approved by lawmakers

We have achieved gender parity in edu, focusing on pay gap: India at UN

India Tuesday said it has achieved gender parity across all levels of education and is now prioritising increasing women's workforce participation in non-conventional sectors and bridging gender pay gaps and the digital divide. Delivering the country statement at the UN Ministerial Conference on women empowerment here, Preetam B Yashwant, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, said India has worked on gender-responsive solutions to reduce "time poverty" of women such as clean cooking fuels, tap water connections and construction of toilets. "Aligned to regional trends demonstrating reduced inequalities in education, today, I am happy to share that India has achieved gender parity across all levels of education. We have one of the highest proportions of women in STEM disciplines globally," he said. Yashwant said that India has adopted a multi-pronged approach to address the issues of women on a life-cycle continuum basis for their educational, social, economic and

Where play meets politics

Gender rights at Olympics emerge as the next frontier where sports and politics are set to collide

Anusuya to Anukathir Surya: Govt approves IRS officer's gender, name change

The order approved by the government states that henceforth, Hyderabad-based officer M Anusuya, will be identified as M Anukathir Surya in all official records

The Indian mosaic

The essays in this collection interrogate what it means to be "Indian" and how these identities often involve a level of paradoxical disconnect between formal mandates and actual practices

Make special efforts to eliminate caste discrimination in society: Bhagwat

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday called for the need to make special efforts to eliminate discrimination over caste and gender in society. The RSS chief was speaking at an intellectuals' meet in Vadodara on the second day of his two-day Gujarat visit. On Saturday, he had attended a similar programme in Bharuch in south Gujarat, stated a release from RSS. In his address to intellectuals, Bhagwat said Sajjan shakti' (noble power) should be organised and made active for social changes through harmony, family education, adherence to rituals, environmental protection, awakening of indigenous values and education in civic duty. Special efforts should be made to eliminate caste and gender differences in society, and special experiments should be done to create a network of Sajjan shakti, the release said, quoting him. During the meet, people working in fields like health, environment, art, literature, and social change expressed their thoughts and opinions about

'LGBTQ Fashion Show' in Siliguri highlights issues faced by community

The show was organised to make the stakeholders, especially the people holding important positions in society, aware of the problems and issues faced by the LGBTQ community

India looked upon as leader in child, gender-responsive budgeting: Unicef

UNICEF India representative Cynthia McCaffrey has said the country is being looked upon as a leader in child and gender-responsive budgeting, especially in South Asia. She hailed India and Madhya Pradesh for making great progress in making plans and budgets child-responsive. "Child responsive budgeting is a strategy to integrate national and state development plans and budgets with child rights commitments. India today is looked upon as a leader in child and gender-responsive budgeting, especially in South Asia, McCaffrey said. She was addressing the inaugural conference on evidence-based social and economic development here organized by Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis (AIGGPA), Government of Madhya Pradesh, in partnership with UN agencies on Tuesday, an official said. "On behalf of UNICEF, I would like to commend the Madhya Pradesh government under the leadership of Chief Minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan) and AIGGPA for convening this important

Upper house of Russian parliament gives nod to ban on gender changes

The upper house of Russia's parliament on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill outlawing gender-affirming procedures, sending the measure to President Vladimir Putin to be signed into law. The move extends the Kremlin's drive to protect what it views as the country's traditional values. The bill, which already was approved in the lower house, bans any medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person, as well as changing one's gender in official documents and public records. The only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies. It also annuls marriages in which one person has changed gender and bars transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents. Lawmakers portray the measure as protecting Russia from the Western anti-family ideology, with some describing gender transitioning as pure satanism. Russia's crackdown on LGBTQ+ people started a decade ago when Putin first proclaimed a focus on traditional family values, supported by the

Smriti Irani questions WEF's gender gap report which ranked India at 135

Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday questioned the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index assessment which ranked India at 135th place in terms of gender parity. Irani said the Index failed to take into account the political empowerment and financial inclusion of women at the grassroots level. The Union minister interacted via video link with the audience during a seminar organised at the Rashtriya Raksha University at Lavad in Gandhinagar district of Gujarat. She was asked questions related to the empowerment of women and gender equality. "It is time to challenge what the Global Gender Gap Index has done in the way India has challenged the Global Hunger Index. This measurement has been done through the western standards," Irani said. She said when it comes to marks of political empowerment, the Index does not take into account women who serve across panchayats and municipalities as district panchayat presidents, sarpanchs, mayors and ...

Women bosses fare worst in accumulated savings: Gender Wealth Equity report

Gender wealth equity varies the most in the Asia-Pacific regions and the least in North America, finds the WTW Global Gender Wealth Equity report

Gender disparity: Harder for women to re-enter job market, shows EPFO data

Payroll data released by the National Statistical Office shows only 18.67 per cent of the persons that rejoined and re-subscribed employees' provident fund (EPF) are female

Trans-forming history

A global trans history stands as testimony to the gender nonconformity of our past

Gender Gap Index 2022: India slips on income measures, shows data

The country performed better on education and health parameters. Political representation has been a mixed bag

US expected to issue its first passport with ''X'' gender marker

The State Department expects to be able to offer the option to nonbinary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people early next year, an official said

Why not have a females-only political party? It will have four advantages

Women are better at governing because they are more patient and more compassionate, writes TCA Srinivasa Raghavan.

BS Number Wise: Does gender affect your Covid-19 vaccination odds?

A section of the population would say yes

Notional income for homemakers in claims case signals their value, rules SC

Women spend more time on 'unpaid care giving services for household members' as compared to men, the apex court said citing a survey

48% anaemic women and other shockers in Maharashtra's first gender budget

It was the first time the state government released a gender budget statement

How sex change operations could improve mental health of transgenders

While the new study confirms that transgender individuals are more likely to use mental health treatments, it also shows that gender-affirming therapy might reduce this risk